Deputies nab man linked to Gaston stabbing

Tips help officials track down suspect in Tanasbourne

Washington County sheriff's deputies arrested a 38-year-old Gales Creek man Wednesday who was linked to a stabbing the day before.

At 4:19 p.m., deputies tracked down Delaney VanLoo in a parking lot in the Tanasbourne area as he exited a business. He was taken into custody without incident and lodged in the Washington County Jail on first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon charges. He is being held on $250,000 bail.

The charges stem from a Tuesday incident in the 200 block of Front Street in Gaston.

Deputies were called to the location at about 1:30 p.m. on reports of a man suffering serious knife wounds.

Upon arrival they found 36-year-old Brian O'Neel of Forest Grove who had multiple knife wounds to his hands and face.

Deputies quickly determined O'Neel and VanLoo were involved in an altercation at an apartment a few blocks away, said Sgt. David Thompson, sheriff's office spokesman.

O'Neel was transported to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, deputies went to the nearby apartment at 98 Second St. in Gaston to look for VanLoo and any other potential victims. VanLoo's 10-year-old son and his estranged wife were both in the apartment. They were both unharmed.

Detectives from the Washington County Sheriff's Office Violent Crimes Unit were called in to take over the investigation. They learned VanLoo fled the scene in a 1994 Chevrolet pickup.

Detectives asked for the public's help in locating the suspect. They were alerted to VanLoo's location more than hour before his arrest on Wednesday.